After what felt like an eternity of floating through the sky, the wind pulling me to and fro like a rag doll, I spotted a brilliant, green canopy of trees. I turned on my watch, only to gasp at the time. I averted my eyes quickly. I didn't know why I had even bothered to check. Of course, it was two minutes past our expected arrival time in Brussels. The Director would be wondering why we hadn't checked in with him. Well, I guess it's my job to be aware of the time, I sighed.

I floated down slowly, too slowly for comfort. I felt my muscles twitch with energy. I'd never felt so claustrophobic in all my life. And yet, I was in the great, expansive outdoors.

To pass the time, I reviewed the procedure for Operation Esc-ep.

Wherever we land on the ground, our goal is to locate each other as quickly as possible. Every member has a tracking device built into their watches. It is the crew's job to locate me, as I am the Team Lead. Then, we must locate the nearest city, rent a car, and drive the rest of the way to Brussels.

That was it. That was the plan. Hopefully, it would get us all the way to Brussels without more hiccups. Up in the clouds, the situation had seemed surreal. But as I floated to the ground, reality was beginning to set in.

Our plane was shot down. We are stranded.

I hope this isn't a test set up by the Director to test my skills. I highly doubted it, but at this point, I would be surprised at nothing.

The trees grew larger and larger, until I was able to make out the distinct shapes of leaves on towering, spindly trunks. The parachute meandered its way through a space between the twisted boughs in the forest. To my delight, I thought that I was going to be lowered all the way to the forest floor. But my descent was suddenly halted. I craned my neck to see that the parachute was stuck by the branches above. Well, you certainly did pick a fine time to get stuck. I was dangling several yards above the forest floor.

Hmm, how on Earth do I get down from here? If I had been lowered into a tree, I could have climbed down. But I was in the center of the forest path, nowhere near the trunks that surrounded me on all sides. If I attempted to jump, I'd probably break my neck. The Director definitely would not be happy about that. Who would complete the mission? There had to be an easier and less painful way down.

I bent my arms behind my back and slowly unzipped the bottom compartment of my bag. I grappeled my way around the various emergency items until I grasped the rough texture of rope. I pulled it out before zipping the pouch up again.

And now to scope out my trajectory. My eyes zeroed in on a nearby woodland pine that looked stable, compared to its wiry brethren. I quickly knotted one end of the rope.

Please land on a thick branch!

I breathed, eyeing my target. It was one of the highest, thickest branches on the tree, and didn't extend too far over the forest path. I had to make sure that I used just the right force to latch onto that singular branch. I focused and tossed the rope upward with all my might. The rope flew through the air. The opening I had made wrapped around the branch. Yes! I quickly tightened the knot like a lasso.

I fastened the other end of the rope around my waist. Once it was snug, but not constricting, I reached into my bag one more time and retrieved a pair of scissors.

Here goes nothing.

I reached above my head and gathered the strings that attached me to the parachute. Before I could think twice about it, I snipped the wires all at once and dropped the scissors to the ground.

My muscles tensed as I went flying backwards. I pivoted to my left side. Breath normally. Inhale, exhale. Inhale...

I slammed into the tree. All of the oxygen in my lungs escaped at once.

Ow! That hurt.

My ribs ached tremendously, but at least I was able to get down. And by slamming into my left side, I had spared my special tech equipment that I had meticulously packaged on the right side of my bag.

I grabbed the branch and climbed onto the main trunk of the tree. Carefully, I untied the rope from around my waist and let it hang down to the forest floor. From my bag, I grabbed a pair of gloves that had grips on the palms and shoved them on my hands. There was no need to get rope burn on top of everything else that had happened. I swiftly shimmied down the rope. At long last, I felt solid ground beneath me. I was so happy, I could have kissed the forest floor.

But that would have been weird. Also, that was not something the real Xara would do.

I stepped a few paces onto the pathway amidst the oasis of pines.

I scanned the treetops, looking for my companions. The trouble with the transparent parachutes was that it was difficult to pick out falling humans in the air. This was good when trying to avoid an enemy spy organization, like WAOIC. It was not good for The Team Lead who was trying to locate her crew.

As I gazed upwards, I realized the true scope of the trees. From above, they seemed tiny. Now seeing them from below, I realized that they were giants—truly a magnificent part of nature.

"Agent X!" A voice cried. I turned around to see Dari and Jax approaching.

"Dari! Jax! You're here!"

"Yup! Man, that was nasty up there," Dari remarked. Jax nodded slightly.

"I guess WAOIC knows how to identify our planes," I said. I glanced at my watch, noting that it was 12:28. "I'd better report to Rokmond. He'll be wondering what happened. In the meantime, try to figure out our location, Dari."

She nodded, and I stepped a little ways away. In the distance, I saw the hazy shape of someone walking towards us. When I squinted, I was able to make out the distinct features of Finn.

"Dari, Jax, Finn's here," I informed them.

Finn raised his arms triumphantly. "We made it!"

"Thank goodness," I said.

"How's everyone doing?" Finn asked as he came nearer.

"We survived," I said. "We can count our losses later. Right now, I need to check in with headquarters. Dari is finding our coordinates."

"Kay." Finn reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "Dang, parachuting can really dehydrate a person."

I cracked a smile before refocusing on the task ahead. I dialed the U.L. and crossed my fingers.

Please answer!

The ringing on the other end of the receiver seemed to drone on forever, until finally, I heard the other end pick up.

"This is Director Rokmond."

"Agent 24 reporting in."

"What's happened?" He knew immediately that something had gone wrong. I was supposed to check in seven minutes ago, and it was not a habit of mine to skip checking in.

Or rather, it was not a habit of the real Xara.

"Our plane was gunned down by WAOIC," I explained.

"Really? Hmm, that's odd. We recently updated the systems to improve their camouflage. What plan did you end up using?"

"I enacted the emergency plan Ex-Par."

"Good."

"I think we need to work on concealing the planes better. Obviously, WAOIC has a form of identification for our aircrafts."

"You're right. I'll get the team to work on that right away. Where are you?"

"Dari is pinpointing our location right now. Right now, we are going to enact the emergency plan Esc-ep."

"Excellent. Ask Dari if she knows your location yet."

I turned around to face Dari. "Rokmond wants to know where we are."

"We have landed in the Rambouillet Forest, which is three-point-five kilometers from the town of Rambouillet. We can rent a car there and drive the rest of the way to Brussels."

I turned back around. "We're in the Rambouillet Forest, headed towards the town of Rambouillet."

"Alright then. I have a few agents stationed in Paris who I will send over to help clean up any messes that may remain."

By messes, he meant the airplane that had likely crash-landed somewhere and the parachutes that were stuck in the trees. We didn't want to leave such equipment laying around, but our team needed to focus on getting to Brussels.

"Okay, that's it. Over and out." I turned off my watch and faced the others. "We're all set to go. Where's Ty?"

"I don't know," Dari said, glancing around.

"I'm right here." We all turned to see Ty running out from a cluster of trees. His leather attire was dripping with water.

"What took you so long?" I questioned.

"My parachute decided to dump me into a pond," Ty whined. "Look at my clothes! I'm sopping wet!"

"We'll get to the hotel in Brussels soon enough. Then you can dry off. Right now, we need to focus on getting to town. Dari, how far is Brussels from here?"

"It is three-hundred and sixty miles. It should take us a good four hours."

I sighed. "Well, let's not waste anymore time. Come on."

Together, we broke into a run, heading towards town.

After running for miles along the roads of France, we finally arrived in the homey, quaint town of Rambouillet. Though the buildings looked well kept and relatively modern, the small size, in comparison to my usual view of Washington DC, made it feel older.

A few tourists strolled along the sidewalks with bulky bags and premium cameras, stopping for pictures every few paces. I was surprised that they were so interested in the town. More than likely, they had come to view the historic commune nearby.

Townspeople hurried past the dawdling tourists. They smiled as we passed, as if we somehow knew each other.

"Where are we headed?" Finn asked.

"We are going to 'Des Voitures Pour Vous' to rent a car," Dari said. "According to my GPS, it's only a few blocks away. At this point, it's the only way that we'll get to Brussels."

"Is there any place that I can change?" Ty whined.

"We'll get to the hotel relatively soon," Dari said.

Ty raised an eyebrow. "How far is it?"

"A few hours."

Ty threw up his hands. "How on Earth is 'a few hours' soon?"

"I said relatively soon. When you can compare four hours to a year of your life, you can see that it's not as bad as you may think."

"Seriously? A year?"

"Hey, it puts things into perspective."

"Okay, so you've shown me your perspective. Now let me show you mine by dumping a bucket of grimy water over your head."

"Enough you two," I declared. My companions' heads snapped to look at me. I supposed my voice was a little sharper than I had intended.

"Dang, I almost had a heart attack," Dari said. "I thought that you were actually Xara."

"Oh... good. Well then, I was, uh, thinking we could have Finn and Jax pick up the rental car, and Ty, Dari, and I can head over to a shop where Ty can change."

"Sounds good," Finn said. "Just send me the coordinates of the rental shop."

"Latitude and longitude coming right up," Dari said, and started typing on her phone.

"I'll text you when we're done getting the rental car, and then again when we are outside of the shop. Don't worry about sending me the coordinates of the shop, I can use the GPS tracker to find you."

"Sounds good," I said.

"Kay. Come on Jax." Finn and Jax jogged ahead of us.

"Alright, let's try to find you a place to change," I told Ty.

"Thank goodness. I thought I was going to drown in this clothing, it's so damp and wet and gross."

I took the lead as we headed down the street, mainly so Ty wouldn't see me snicker.

The nearest shop was in a white brick building with a red, fabric awning, reading: Sucre Soyeux.

"Ooh, let's go in there," Ty said.

"Oh, so now you're now hungry too?" Dari challenged.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I am. Got a problem with that?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. We need to get back to the mission!"

"It'll take Jax and Finn at least twenty minutes before they return with the rental car. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to relax and eat during that time. We get some pastries for the whole crew. You know what I always say, a well-fed stomach is a well-working mind."

"Fine, we can go in there," I declared. "We can order while you are changing."

We entered the modest bakery. It was quite small inside, a few tables and chairs set up.

"I want a chocolate croissant and a cheese danish," Ty said.

"Okay."

I walked up to the counter, surveying an array of pastries, breads, and tarts behind glass.

"Bonjour, Madame. Que désirez-vous?"

"What did she say?" Dari inquired.

"She asked what I would like," I said.

"Je voudrais un croissant et une baguette."

"D'accord." The girl wrote down my order.

Dari knit her eyebrows together. "You ordered an entire baguette?"

I shrugged. "It's for the road. What do you want?"

"I think I'll get a cheese danish too. They look pretty good."

"Aussi, Je voudrais trois danois au fromage, deux croissants au chocolat, et une éclair."

Based on previous memories, I anticipated that Finn was going to want an eclair.

"Très bien," the saleswoman replied. "Rien d'autre?"

"Non, ça suffit. Merci!"

"De rien!" She quickly retrieved our order from the display case and placed each pastry in a box.

"What did you both say?" Dari whispered.

"She said 'very good' and asked if my order was enough. I told her I didn't want anything more."

"Oh."

"You should learn French sometime. It's a nice language."

"It's too fancy for me. I'll stick with good old fashioned American English, thank you very much."

I smiled as I turned back to see the girl package a freshly baked baguette. She placed our two parcels on the counter and punched a few numbers into the cash register. "Ce sera dix-huit euros."

I reached into my bag and placed the exact change on the counter.

"Merci." The coins jingled as she put the money into the cash register. I lifted the packages from the counter.

"Come on," I said to Dari. "Let's sit down and wait for Ty."

We settled into a table near the front door. I reached into the box of goodies and tore into my croissant. It was absolutely incredible. It was still warm, and the flaky layers melted in my mouth.

"Wow, this is delicious," I said.

Dari nodded, chewing on a mouthful of danish. She pressed on the stuffed pastry a bit too hard and cheese spurted onto her finger.

"Ooh, the food has arrived!" Ty exclaimed as he exited the restroom. He had changed from his leather spy-wear to a formal business suit.

"My, my, going to London to visit the Queen, are we?" Dari jested.

"Naw, I'm just getting into the mind of the suspect." He straightened his blue-and-yellow striped bow tie.

"Words like honey, but sting like a bee?" I asked.

"It's a statement tie," Ty defended. "It provides a pop of color to an ordinarily mundane outfit."

"Just make sure that you don't get any cheese on it."

"I haven't started eating yet, wisewoman."

He sat down across from me, next to Dari, and began eating the food he had ordered. Behind me, I heard the door jingle as another customer entered the bakery.

"I wonder how popular of a tourist spot this is," Dari commented.

"With food like this, I imagine it would be pretty big. Everything is absolutely delicious," Ty said.

"Yeah. Maybe we should order some more for the road," Dari mentioned.

"Ha! See, I was right." Ty's gloating grin stretched from ear to ear. "Admit it, Dari. I have the best ideas."

"I would never, ever, ever say that. After all, it was Agent X here who allowed us to go here."

"She saw the genius in my idea and decided to follow through with it."

I felt my watch vibrate on my wrist. I glanced down to see a message from Finn.

Got the car. I can see your coordinates through the location tracker, so I'll be right over.

"Finn's heading over," I said, ending their banter. "We should get ready to go."

"Wow, that was fast," Dari said.

I shrugged. "I suppose the Director must have pulled a few strings."

"Can we get a few more snacks for the road? I'm pretty hungry," Ty said.

"Yeah, sure," I agreed. "You know French, right?"

"Of course! I've been speaking since I was a kid."

I held up my hands. "Just making sure."

He shook his head as he strolled to the counter.

"I just hope he doesn't buy up all of the pastries in the store," Dari said. "You know what happens when he gets hungry."

A memory of Ty buying a ten course dinner at Olive Garden flashed through my mind. He had made it part of the way through his third course, fettuccine alfredo, when he had nearly collapsed from a food coma.

"I'm sure he'll be...somewhat...responsible."

Dari snorted and turned back to her phone.

I glanced out the window, watching for Finn. As I waited, the corner of my eye drifted to the tourist seated two tables away. He was a fairly plain fellow―brown eyes, tan skin, rounded face. Brown hair peeked out from beneath the black hat that sat atop his head. He wore a tan coat with a high-neck collar. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him.

"Oh, Monsieur! Vous avez oublié votre changement!" The salesgirl called out.

"Ah, merci!" The tourist replied.

I froze as a memory was summoned from the depths of my mind. Faces could disguise themselves, but I could always recognize a voice.

The voice belonged to Agent Scar of WAOIC. I watched the man in my peripheral as he stood and walked to the counter. The collar of his coat shifted ever so slightly, revealing the tip of an ugly, hooked scar.

It was Agent Scar, no doubt about it. A lump settled in my stomach. We were being watched. We were being followed.

Xara had encountered Scar a few times on assignments. It was lucky that she had, otherwise I wouldn't have recognized him. I kept one eye trained on him as he proceeded to the counter, picked up his change, and then returned to his seat. His gaze flicked our way, and I quickly looked down at my croissant.

Don't look at him! Otherwise he might realize that you recognized him. I picked up my croissant and nibbled at it. After a moment, I nonchalantly reached for my phone. My thumbs flew across the screen as I typed a warning message to the crew.

'Stay calm, act natural. We are being watched by a man in a tan coat known by WAOIC as Agent Scar. We must proceed to the rental car ASAP and evacuate the area before anything more goes wrong.'

Dari peered at her watch the moment I sent the message. Fortunately, her reaction wasn't to turn around. She simply exhaled, making eye contact with me. She didn't have to say a word, I knew what she was thinking. You've got to be kidding me. Not again.

I turned my attention to a bigger problem―Ty's reaction. He rushed back to the table, cradling a second box of goodies. He wore the silliest grin, like a love-sick puppy. "I have to say, it's quite nice to be out of the line of fire. It really builds up a person's appetite."

I waited patiently for him to read the message I had just sent him. But Ty made no movement to check his texts. He simply picked up a pretzel and lazily bit into it.

"These are just too delicious," Ty commented.

"I'm sure," I said. As he continued to munch, I realized that time was running out. We couldn't wait for Ty to decide to read my urgent notice. Beneath the table, my thumbs furiously spammed him with messages. He'll check them if he gets annoyed enough.

I saw his wrist flick as his watch vibrated, bombarded with messages. He scowled, looking directly at me. My eyes moved to his watch. Check your messages! How hard is it? Ty angrily tore off a piece of his pretzel.

"Stop making fun of me," he said with his mouth full. "I can eat as much as I want whenever I want."

Ugh! Ty! This had nothing to do with being hungry!

I saw his wrist writhing from the constant pulses. He opened his mouth to speak again, but I narrowed my eyes. I didn't want him drawing attention to the situation. Scar couldn't find out that we were onto him.

Finally, Ty set down his pretzel and flipped aggressively through the messages on his watch. His eyes went wide when he saw the initial alert.

He surreptitiously flicked his head in the direction of Scar. I lifted my chin slightly, a subtle form of a nod.

He rested his chin in his hands to cover his face.

Ohhh, he mouthed.

I gave a slight nod in response. You really thought I would steer you wrong?

My watch pulsed. I glanced at Finn's message.

I parked around the corner. Leave now and walk around the corner to the left of the bakery.

I replied with a thumbs up. Everything was set. Now I just needed to think of an inconspicuous way to leave the bakery.

Scar was watching and listening to us. We couldn't let him discover Finn's location.

"Harold is waiting a few kilometers away. We'd better leave now," I said.

"Bruh, can't he come any closer?" Ty complained, jumping right into the act.

"Come on, it's good exercise."

Ty "reluctantly" rose from his seat and followed Dari and me out of the store.

"Why did you say that we needed to walk several miles?" Dari whispered.

"And why Harold?" Ty asked.

"I don't want him to know where Finn and Jax are, just in case he has friends. As for the name Harold, it was the first thing I thought of."

Dari nodded; Ty snickered at the name I had come up with. I ignored him. Focus, Xara. There's no room for error. I angled my phone to see if anyone was trailing behind. Sure enough, Scar had followed us, though he remained just far enough away so as to avert suspicion. I took long strides to widen the gap between us and Scar.

"Scar is walking behind us," I murmured. "Act natural and walk quickly."

Dari and Ty adjusted their pace to match mine. From the reflection of Scar in my phone, his speed appeared to have increased.

"Do you think he has friends?" Ty whispered.

"Probably," I said. "We need to keep a steady pace until we reach that bend." I nodded to the upcoming alleyway, where Ty and Jax were waiting. "Then, we need to dash to the car and hightail it out of here. Keep walking straight until I start to curve."

"Gotcha."

I forced myself to breath. I could feel the adrenaline trickling into my blood, building in a slow and steady stream. The energy made me feel jittery. I felt like I was vibrating, like I was about to explode. I had never realized how tense spy work was. Xara always handled it so well that I never realized that it took a physical toll on one's body―and nerves.

We soon were only a foot away from the alleyway where Finn and Jax were hiding out. I could see the rusty, tin trash cans that were stashed in the cranny of the street. Just a few more paces, and then we bolt for it.

I wanted to make sure that we stayed on our proper course for as long as humanly possible. We had to convince Scar that we really were going to walk for a while. Then, our sudden escape would take him off guard and buy us more time.

I felt my heartbeat quicken with every step. It's coming up. Ready, Xara? Three, two, one.

Just as we walked past the alley, I veered to the left. Ty and Dari followed suit. Once we were safely out of Scar's line of sight, we made a bolt for the black car waiting for us.

I heard the doors unlock and I scampered into the backseat as quickly as possible.

Glass shattered behind me. Tiny shards cut the back of my neck while a bullet flew past.

"Get down!" I yelled.

Jax didn't waste even a moment. He already had a machine gun assembled, which he pointed through the window and fired.

I heard another crack of gunshot. Bullets whizzed past, burying themselves into the seat in front of me. I pulled a gun from my bag and peered out the window. Scar was joined by two other agents, all with guns pointed at us.

"Step on it, Finn!" I commanded. The ignition fired to life, and the car flew backwards. Shots ricocheted off metal cans and loose piles of lumber.

"Keep them busy on your side, Jax. I'll distract them from mine. Dari, start directing Finn to the main road."

"Kay." Having Dari as the navigator would ensure that Finn could focus on the most important task at the moment—getting out of there.

"Buckle up, boys. We're about to go on one heck of a ride."

The car sped onto the main road. Pedestrians in the street screamed and fled to the sidewalks. Finn blasted the horn. We missed them by an inch. Onlookers observed our reckless driving in disgust.

A man called after us, "Those darned tourist drivers! Always driving to and fro in such a rush!"

I turned to survey the situation. A black and white striped car was now following us. It's headlights were elongated in such a way that they looked like narrowed, menacing eyes. Riding shotgun was Scar and one of the WAOIC agents. The other was nowhere in sight.

"They're following us," I said.

"Keep going straight for four kilometers," Dari instructed.

Finn pressed the gas pedal. The car accelerated to eighty kilometers per hour.

Finn was probably better with planes than with cars. I mean, he certainly had had far more practice with jets, so it made sense. Nevertheless, Finn was always our chauffeur, whether it be by sky or by land. He was the best, and most gutsy, driver out of all of us.

Gunfire exploded behind. I rolled down my window and fired my gun. The car swerved, on the road only to be attacked with a shower of bullets from Jax's machine gun.

I lined up my gun with the windshield, my hand steady. I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

I snapped the gun back in place. Another bullet burst from my gun. Quickly, I pulled myself back inside the car to avoid a stream of pellets aimed at me.

My eyes flipped to the front to see a car curving around a bend. My heart dropped in my chest. Tires screeched around the corner while the other driver slammed on his breaks.

Blood rushed in my ears. I felt numb to my surroundings—completely and utterly numb. I pointed my gun out of the window and fired. The bullet created a hole in the car's windshield. I shot again, right before I saw Scar aiming his gun at the car.

I ducked down. Bullets darted overhead, inches from my head. I forced my hands to stop shaking. Like lightning, I fired and ducked down.

"Dari, how much further?"

"I can't make heads or tails of this map. It's all French to me."

I was too wired to be annoyed at her joke. "We need to get onto a main road. The longer we stay on the backroads, the easier it is to target us."

"Got it. Get onto a highway, any highway, as quickly as possible." Dari's fingers danced across her phone as she pulled up a map. "Okay Finn, listen. We need to take the first right coming up. You got that? The first right. It's coming up in a few kilometers."

"Copy that," Finn said.

The car zoomed ahead. I happened to notice a sign saying that the speed limit was sixty kilometers per hour. We're probably double that speed by now.

I wondered how the municipal law enforcement dealt with such matters. I mean, there was a chance that we could get caught. And neither WAOIC's agents, nor us, were citizens of France.

Focus Xara.

I aimed my gun and shot again. The bullet flew inches from Scar's arm. He retaliated immediately. I felt metal graze my index finger. I looked down to see blood beading on my hand.

"You okay?" Ty asked.

"I'm good. We just need to..."

"Finn! Turn right now!" Dari exclaimed.

The car skirted to the right. Ty and Dari fell on top of me.

"Sorry, X," Dari said.

"It's fine," I replied, sitting up straight again.

I glanced back at the car. Jax was riddling it with bullets, and they were completely destroying our rental car. We'd have to purchase a new one before we arrived in Brussels—yet another delay in our trip.

Moreover, we'd have to purchase a replacement for this car. I'd have to inform Rokmond. Hopefully, we wouldn't exceed the budget too much.

For right now, though, we needed a better plan than a highway chase. Maybe we should try the 'weave the road' trick. I knew Finn could handle the vehicle at high speeds with expert precision. Perhaps, if WAOIC had a less experienced driver, it would stall them. We needed every last bit of time we could get.

"Dari, we need to find a curvy road. Do you see a curvy road on your map?"

"Um, let me see." She squinted at the tiny pictures on her map. "Yeah, there's one that goes through a hilly patch, it seems."

Perfect! Hills plus lots of turns might just be enough to shake our tail.

"Tell Finn how to get there."

I whipped around to blast WAOIC with bullets.

"Finn, I need you to turn right in three, two, one!"

The car darted onto a one-lane road.

"Drive as fast as you can, Finn. Don't slow down!" I yelled.

Finn laughed a little. "Okay, I just hope there aren't any policemen nearby."

Finn pressed his foot all the way down on the gas. I felt the car going faster, and faster, and faster. The road in front began to curve. Finn yanked the steering wheel to the left. I jolted in my seat. It was a good thing I hadn't eaten much. Weaving on the road is one of the best ways to make a person carsick. I could feel the doughy croissant churning in my stomach.

I faced our pursuer again. As I had suspected, the car had slowed. Finn was probably the only person on Earth who would try to drive one-hundred and thirty kilometers per hour on a hilly road that curved.

The car flew over a hill. For a moment, I was lifted into the air from the force. Thank goodness I was wearing my seatbelt. Otherwise, I might have kept going up. I glanced at Ty to make sure that he was strapped in, which fortunately, he was.

The line of fire came to a standstill as the distance between us and WAOIC increased. After a few hills, a few turns, the black-and-white car was nowhere to be seen.

I fell back against my seat. My heart was spazzing in my chest to try to pump enough blood through my body. I forced myself to exhale all of the breath that was stuck in my lungs.

It's all over, Xara. They're gone. The risk is over. Just breath, Xara. Breath. They are all gone.

For now.

"Finn, you can slow down a bit," Dari said.

We were still charging forward.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna hurl if you don't." I looked at Ty, who was doubled over, clutching his stomach. His face was pale and strained.

"Danish and high-speeds don't mix, do they?" I said.

He shook his head forlornly. I felt the car's speed slow.

"They don't mix before, but they certainly do mix after," Finn declared. "Gimme some food! I'm starving!"

"It's not safe to eat and drive," Dari said.

"It's not safe for me to not eat and drive," Finn countered. "Gimme my food!"

I handed him a croissant from the bag. He lowered the car's speed, but only down to seventy kilometers per hour.

"Phew, that was a close one," Dari sighed.

"Yeah. We're going to have to get a new rental," I mentioned.

"At this rate, we should just buy a car," Finn said. "It's actually cheaper since we don't have to pay for rental fees and a new car."

"I'll mention it all to the Director. I'm going to contact him now," I said.

"Sounds good," Dari said. "In the meantime, I'll try to get us back to the main road so we can get to Brussels."

"Yeah, where even are we?" Ty questioned.

Dari shrugged.

"That doesn't give me very much confidence," Ty said.

"Bruh, don't worry. I'll get us to Belgium, one way or another."